Fluorine (F.sub.2) is a nonmetallic element in Group VIIA of the Periodic Classification and is the most electronegative element and the most powerful oxidizing agent known. Fluorine is an intensely active substance, if not the most active element known. Fluorines reactivity allows it to combine directly with most oxidizable substances, including organic compounds. Though nonflammable, fluorine being a powerful oxidizing agent, will react violently with a wide range of both organic and inorganic compounds, frequently with ignition and/or explosion.
Processes for fluorinating substrates, i.e., organics, with fluorine (F.sub.2) gas are known. For example, in one process, fluorine gas is admixed with an inert gas, and the mixture is brought directly into contact with the organic substrate to be fluorinated. This process suffers the disadvantages of high expense and the quite violent reaction. In another known process, fluorine is generated in situ at a metal source, and the fluorine thus generated is contacted with an organic reactant at low temperatures in liquefied hydrogen fluoride (HF). This process suffers the disadvantage of requiring expensive refrigeration equipment necessary to generate the low temperatures. In view of the above-noted disadvantages, and particularly in view of the difficulty in handling fluorine gas, it would be highly desirable to provide a method which permits safer and more controlled handling of fluorine gas and its use in fluorinating reactions.